Descent to Darkness
by dethangelx
Summary: His obsession, her last, and the end... IchiRuki... 'So be it.'
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** Bleach ain't mine… and if it were to end like this, then I would NEVER even think of wishing for it…

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**HER LAST**

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_"Rukia…" he choked out, feeling his chest might burst at any time._

_She gave him a soft smile - her last._

_He barely heard the words she said, for he was shouting, _howling_, at the skies. As he did so, the Heavens somehow _decided_ to answer him this time. Now, the skies were crying as well._

_Too late, he thought bitterly. No one can stop the rain _inside him_ now._

_She gasped, and he quickly looked back down at her. She was trying _so hard_ not to close her eyes. He somehow understood. _You must be tired… am I right, Rukia?

_"Shh... It's okay," he said softly, tightening his grip on her hands. They were slippery with blood – her blood, and a bit of his as well. "I'm right here. You…" he swallowed painfully, but forced himself to continue on, "…can rest peacefully now."_

_"Hmm…" she murmured, lids slowly closing. He did not want to lose sight of those violet eyes. He did not want to see them lose their quiet sparkle. But he__** did not**__ want for her to suffer any longer._

_He did not take his eyes off of her, not while she still had even a _spark _of life left._

_His world was crumbling away, but he held on. And when she took her final rasping breaths, he felt that he _couldn't possibly _**let go**__._

_"Live," she whispered, the wind carrying her words, along with her last breath, away from him._

**Live?** _Tears poured with renewed vigor from his already swollen eyes. How could he? But she still held her smile, even in death, and her words burned at him._

_He felt the darkness swallow him alive, but he no longer felt fear._

_.._

_.._

**So be it.**


	2. Chapter 2

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**HIS OBSESSION**

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_Rukia_

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_When the long war finally ended, she thought everything would return to normal. And when the realization hit her, she became afraid._

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_A celebration was held in Seireitei, and everyone – shinigami, vaizard, exile, or human – who took arms and fought in the battle had been invited._

_But Kuchiki Rukia was not in the mood for revelry. Her thoughts had been consumed by one person, and she did not look forward to their inevitable goodbye._

_"Rukia."_

_She turned around. "Hey," she greeted, hoping her smile was bright enough._

_Abarai Renji was not looking at her, though. "How are you?"_

_She chuckled weakly. "What do you mean? We've _fought_ together these past few weeks. Of course I'm_ fine_."_

_He did not look convinced, but seeing that she really wasn't in the mood to talk, he let her be._

_She heard voices, and she peered eagerly at the door. Sure enough, her friends from the human world came in, and they looked as if the burden of the world had been lifted from their shoulders. She did not see the person she was looking for, though. She frowned in disappointment, and then gave a heavy sigh._

_"Oi, what's with the sigh?"_

_Her eyes widened. She whirled around, and there he is - bright orange hair, cocky grin, and all._

_"Ichigo, you-" she started to say, but she was abruptly cut off by his lips pressing down on hers. She froze. She wasn't really sure if she was just imagining things, so she just _stood_ there._

_He pulled away from her, blushing._

_She blinked. "What-what was that?" she stammered out, still confused._

_He scowled at her. "I just _showed_ you how much I love you, and you just ask what _the heck_ that was?"_

_Love-_

_Oh._

_If possible, her face reddened more than before, but her happiness showed when a smile formed at her lips. He was watching her all that time, and now he was wearing an annoying smirk on his face. Now, that ticked her off a little._

_"Ow!" he yelped, holding his stomach. He glared at her. "What was that for-!" he yelled. But then, it was _**his** _turn to be cut off. None of them minded the silence, though._

_After what felt like hours, they finally pulled apart for some air. They were both red in the face, but they sported the same foolish smiles._

_"I love you, too," she finally responded._

_She wished that moment didn't have to end._

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_She followed him back to the human world, amidst the protests of her brother and Renji. Once, she'd been a stickler to the rules. But then, she met _him_, and the rules no longer seemed to apply._

_His family knew of their relationship, which Ichigo reluctantly confessed. Oh, she will never forget his expression when he did. It was priceless! That day, she felt that she truly _belonged_._

_She had never felt more content those days. Sure, they still fought once in a while, but they easily made up and forgave each other._

_Then, one day, a guy from school walked up to her. She had been quite surprised. She knew him to be some kind of jock, after all. He was popular and girls flocked to him, but he approached _her._ She admits she was a bit flattered by the attention. But she had Ichigo, and she was just about to tell the guy off, when he was lifted from her vision. She heard a resounding crash, and she gasped in horror at his crumpled form. Ichigo had a mad look on him, and he kept hitting the guy on the floor, until she finally shook herself and came between them._

_He flashed his eyes dangerously at her, angry at her interception. She forced herself not to cower from him, and clutched at his arm. After several soothing words, he finally calmed down enough to be led away from the bloody jock._

_Isshin got called by the principal as a result of that incident and Ichigo got the scolding of his life. He mumbled excuses and apologies, but when he had heard enough, he stormed up to his room without another word. The house was unusually quiet for one whole week._

_Ichigo was a mess. He kept muttering, "You're mine. Mine," and she reassured him just as much that, _yes_, she was _his_. Rukia tried all she could to ease whatever burden he carried._

_After another week or so, the father and son finally came to terms. She saw them engaged in deep conversation, and Isshin was back to smiling again._

_A month passed uneventfully. Just when she thought the peace would last _this _time, it happened again._

_This time, Renji had come to pay her a visit after he was finally given leave by her brother. He had been so excited to see her that he immediately gathered her in his arms. She felt cold shiver through her spine, and she recalled the earlier incident with the jock with painful clarity. She tried to get out of his grip quickly, but it was too late. Ichigo had seen the entire thing. She watched him walk calmly towards them, and she silently pleaded at him with her eyes. By then, Renji was looking strangely at her, and as he turned to look at what caught her attention, his face was met with the orange-haired teen's fist._

_What followed was something she could only think of as a nightmare. Ichigo did not even give him time to stand; he just pounded relentlessly at him _in shinigami form_. Rukia shouted for him to stop the entire time, but he never heard her. He raised his sword and sliced through one of Renji's limbs. And when he was about to go for the second strike, she did not hesitate. She rushed forward and hugged him from behind. She didn't care if he turned his wrath on her; all she wanted was for him to _stop_._

_He slowly turned his head to face her. "Why are you crying, Rukia?" he asked in a gentle tone._

_She whipped her gaze at him, and she had to stop herself from gasping. It wasn't his question that befuddled her; his eyes were the cause of her rising despair._

_"Don't cry, Rukia," he said, dropping his sword carelessly on the ground to hug her._

His usually warm, amber eyes had turned into deep coals of black.

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_He carried her off to an abandoned building and virtually kept guard on her day and night. At that point, she was no longer in any condition to argue or plead. She was left in a silent state of shock._

_Within the day, her brother had learned of Ichigo's atrocity, and he immediately arranged for his arrest. Rukia followed along numbly, as Ichigo refused to release her arm even for a moment._

_When they arrived, the captains have assembled, and the general-commander was just about to pronounce his sentence when smoke suddenly filled the hall. A glint caught her eye, and her eyes widened. Renji had released his zanpakutou and was pointing it with a fury at Ichigo. With a will of its own, her body surged forward and collided with the blade._

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_She felt her world dim. Then, she had the distinct sensation of being lifted. When she finally opened her eyes, the world just passed her by in a silent blur._


	3. Chapter 3

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**THE END**

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Ichigo was aware that he was changing, but he did nothing to stop it. He felt numb, really. Like he could no longer feel pain (or any other emotion, for that matter) much worse than what he'd experienced just moments ago.

Dark reiatsu swirled around him as he picked up the lifeless body of his lover. He thought he could hear shouting in the distance, but he couldn't be bothered with it.

The ground he treaded on cracked with the force of his power; everything just seemed to shake in his presence. Yet he held the body in his arms in the gentlest manner even as he kicked off to place her in the highest place he knew – that place where, once upon a time, he _had _saved her.

He laid her down lovingly on the ground. That was when he felt their presence. He closed his eyes for a moment, and heaved a quiet sigh.

With one last look, he turned to face them.

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_Live._

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With one strike, he cut down at a shinigami that blocked his path.

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_Live._

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Her brother came into view, and he was almost amused to see his cold face register even the barest of shock. He knew he was at the peak of his transformation.

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_Live._

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Blood seemed to splash every which way, and it had long since covered his sword, and even his arms and legs. He came face to face with the old general-commander, and he just gave him a wry smile. Then, as the dark power continued to consume him, he willingly lost himself to its surge.

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_Live._

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That day, Soul Society was covered in blood and darkness. And though he felt his limbs move, he knew. _**Kurosaki Ichigo **_was lost to the world.

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_Live?_

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_**So be it.**_

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_A/N:_ I just had this idea today, and it simply won't go, so I thought I'd just post it... So, hit me... Was it too...sappy? Was it dark enough? Review, people.


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